Romania

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News about Romania, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 14, 2015

Romanian Prime Min Victor Ponta is indicted on charges of forgery, money laundering and tax evasion; maintains his innocence and does not resign office despite having stepped down as head of Social Democratic Party. MORE

Jun. 25, 2015

Romanian prosecutors indict Sebastian Ghita, ally of Prime Min Victor Ponta, on corruption charges, including embezzlement of European Union funds and attempting to influence voters by offering them cash and other illegal incentives. MORE

May. 19, 2015

Jihadist group Al Mourabitoun, which was once part of Al Qaeda network and has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, says it has captured Romanian citizen and will kill him if their demands are not met. MORE

Dec. 1, 2014

Protests have arisen in Romania and other Eastern European countries in response to attempts by American oil companies to lease plots of land for shale gas drilling; some suspect that Russian company Gazprom is actually behind protests, as it seeks to prevent countries dependent on Russian natural gas from developing their own alternative supplies of energy, MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

Romanian Foreign Min Teodor Melescanu resigns after having served only one week, after thousands of citizens living outside the country were unable to vote in presidential runoff elections; issue is seen as key part of Klaus Iohannis's victory over Prime Min Victor Ponta. MORE

Nov. 17, 2014

Nov. 15, 2014

Saturday Profile of Laura Codruta Kovesi, who heads Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate, agency leading an aggressive drive against graft. MORE

Nov. 7, 2014

Romanian-born American Andrei Ursu ends his 17-day hunger strike when Romania's government, after years of delay and inaction, agrees to open a new investigation into beating death of his father, a prominent dissident, in a communist-era prison three decades earlier. MORE

Nov. 4, 2014

Romanian Prime Min Victor Ponta, favorite to replace Traian Basescu as president, has been forced into runoff after failing to capture majority of votes in election that was closer than expected; Klaus Iohannis finishes strong second. MORE

Nov. 1, 2014

Spying allegation against Romanian presidential candidate Prime Min Victor Ponta conjures past Romanian political culture clogged with accusations and counteraccusations of undercover skulduggery; revolution that toppled Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 ended paranoid dystopia in which one in every 30 Romanians worked as an informer for ruthless security agency Securitate. MORE

Jul. 20, 2014

Elizabeth Zach travel article on eco-resort in Danube River Delta region of eastern Romania; observes area teems with hundreds of species of plants, trees and fish, but questions remain about its preservation. MORE

Jun. 1, 2014

European Union's decision to extend full employment rights to Romania and Bulgaria sparks unfounded fears in Britain of a flood of desperate immigrants; Office for National Statistics reports that the number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain from January to March of 2014 actually dropped, from 144,000 in the previous quarter to 140,000. MORE

May. 13, 2014

Russia vows 'harsh' response after Ukraine and Romania refuse to allow plane carrying group of Russian delegates led by Russian Deputy Prime Min Dmitri O Rogozin through their airspace; Rogozin, on list of those hit with sanctions by both the United States and European Union after Russia's annexation of Crimea, was returning from state visit to former Soviet republic Moldova. MORE

Jan. 2, 2014

Citizens of two of Europe’s poorest states, Romania and Bulgaria, become officially eligible to seek jobs in Germany, France, Britain and several other European Union member countries; lifting of labor restrictions is greeted as both opportunity and threat, touching off fear among some about unchecked immigration. MORE

Oct. 14, 2013

Dramatic 1972 Davis Cup finals in Romania, considered by experts to be one of best in history, played out amid cold war tensions following murder of 11 Israelis by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics; American team, which included two Jewish players, defied advice not to travel to the Palestinian-friendly nation and successfully defended its title under leadership of star Stan Smith. MORE

Oct. 8, 2013

Romanian prosecutors charge Liviu Dragnea, deputy prime minister, and 74 local officials with falsifying voter data in a referendum that failed to unseat Pres Traian Basescu; most of those who voted in the national referendum chose to impeach Basescu, but the vote was declared invalid because less than half the electorate took part. MORE

Sep. 30, 2013

Romania's decision to prosecute former prison commander Alexandru Visinescu for his role in Communist-era abuses has opened flood of news media coverage and controversy in country; decision has also raised tentative hopes among victims and advocates that Romania may finally be shaking off a national amnesia about its brutal past and confronting a culture of impunity and corruption that has long constrained progress. MORE

Sep. 11, 2013

Romanian parliament votes to allow officials in Bucharest to capture and kill tens of thousands of stray dogs in city. MORE

Sep. 4, 2013

Jun. 15, 2013

New bridge spanning Danube River officially opens, aimed at fostering trade and ties between Romania and Bulgaria, two of European Union's poorest nations. MORE

Apr. 27, 2013

Ilona DeVito di Porriasa, quiet market analyst at Merrill Lynch, is revealed after her death to have been countess who grew up in castle in Transylvania; Di Vito, born Ilona Teleki di Szek, fled to United States with her family to escape Romanian Communist government. MORE

Mar. 19, 2013

Romanian court rules that former Prime Min Adrian Nastase will be released early from prison after serving nine months of two-year term for corruption. MORE

Feb. 7, 2013

Hoki Sport Club Csikszereda, Romania's dominant hockey team, is in vanguard of bringing greater autonomy for Szekely Land, ethnically Hungarian area in country's northern region. MORE

Nov. 28, 2012

Lincoln Center Film Society cuts ties with the Romanian Cultural Institute after Romanian group comes under attack by its new conservative government in Bucharest, thus jeopardizing film festival they had sponsored together; instead, Lincoln Center joins forces with new, unofficial nongovernment entity called Romanian Film Initiative to host festival, called Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema, which is scheduled to open in late November 2012. MORE

Nov. 4, 2012

Romania is one of several former Communist states that have proved remarkably resilient in weathering European economic crisis; euro crisis has helped such states due to fact that they have kept their own currencies, and many of them are having second thoughts about their long-running goal of joining the euro. MORE

Oct. 29, 2012

Romanians remain divided concerning apparent suicide attempt by former Prime Min Adrian Nastase, who was arrested for siphoning public funds for his presidential campaign; case highlights polarization and dysfunction in Romania and other satellite members of the European Union that are struggling to root out corruption. MORE

Oct. 20, 2012

Deep acrimony between Prime Min Victor Ponta and Pres Traian Basescu of Romania has dashed hopes that Ponta's leadership would usher in a generational changed to the country's stymied political scene; Romania has long struggled to overcome one of the harshest Communist legacies among the former Soviet bloc states. MORE

Aug. 22, 2012

Romania’s Constitutional Court rules that a referendum on whether to impeach Pres Traian Basescu has failed because the minimum voter threshold was not reached. MORE

Aug. 10, 2012

French Pres Francois Hollande dismantles Roma encampments and rounds up the illegal travelers' group for expatriation; officials say decision to evict is based on sanitary concerns; charter plan flies 240 Roma, including children, back to Bucharest, Romania from Lyon, France. MORE

Aug. 6, 2012

Sandra Izbasa of Romania earns the gold medal in the women's individual vault over McKayla Maroney of the United States; Maroney, the reigning world champion on vault, was supposed to win the event by a landslide but ended up with the silver medal after landing on her rear on her second vault; other gymnastic results noted. MORE

Aug. 3, 2012

Romania's Constitutional Court says it has delayed decision on validity of referendum to impeach Pres Traian Basesc, even though the overwhelming majority of ballots were cast in favor of ousting him; cites contradictory data over number of eligible voters. MORE

Aug. 3, 2012

Op-Ed article by Romanian senator Mircea Geoana asserts Romania, despite all the political drama surrounding the ouster of Pres Traian Basescu, has done nothing to tackle the entrenched clientelism and corruption that plagues its political process. MORE

Aug. 1, 2012

United States women's gymnastics team wins the gold medal, beating Russia by 5.066 points, the largest winning margin since 1960; Romania takes bronze. MORE

Jul. 31, 2012

Romanian Pres Traian Basescu survives referendum to impeach him, raising fears of an extended period of political and economic instability; vote had been instigated by Prime Min Victor Ponta, who immediately repeated his calls for Basescu to resign; outcome has removed some political uncertainty but the retaining of the unpopular president at loggerheads with the prime minister who tried to remove him promises still more political instability and acrimony. MORE

Jul. 30, 2012

Romania's referendum on impeaching PresTraian Basescu raises questions about whether the nation can retain a financial aid package from the International Monetary Fund; European Union is concerned that Prime Min Victor Ponta's effort to drive Basescu from office has breached the rule of law. MORE

Jul. 13, 2012

Prime Minister Victor Ponta of Romania agrees to follow a court decision on an impeachment referendum for Pres Traian Basescu, pending a forthcoming referendum on impeachment. MORE

Jul. 11, 2012

Romania's Constitutional Court says that a majority of the electorate must vote in order for a referendum on ousting the president to be valid, a ruling that may make it harder for Pres Traian Basescu’s opponents to push him out. MORE

Jul. 7, 2012

Romanian Parliament votes to impeach Pres Traian Basescu amid rising international criticism of the government's apparent attempts to usurp power and subvert the country's young democracy; Prime Min VIctor Ponta and his left-leaning Social Liberal Union contend that Basescu has violated the Constitution and accuse him of acting as a dictator; Romanian voters will now decide in a nationwide referendum whether to uphold the impeachment. MORE

Jun. 21, 2012

Former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase of Romania shoots and wounds himself, apparently in a suicide attempt, hours after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that he must serve a two-year sentence for corruption; his conviction was hailed as progress in Romania, where politicians have long been seen as above the law. MORE

Jun. 20, 2012

Scientific magazine Nature reports that an anonymous whistle-blower has provided documents indicating that Romanian Prime Min Victor Ponta plagiarized more than half of his doctoral thesis; Ponta denies allegations. MORE

Apr. 28, 2012

Romania's government falls in no-confidence vote just two months after Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu took office, plunging the country into crisis and raising the prospect of months of political and economic uncertainty. MORE

Feb. 11, 2012

Saturday Profile of Dr Raed Arafat, Romanian Health Ministry official, who is one of the founders of the country's widely lauded emergency-response system; thousands of Romanians held public demonstrations when Arafat resigned from his post, leading to his reinstatement. MORE

Feb. 10, 2012

Romanian Parliament approves a new government that will be led by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, a former spy chief who promised to keep the austerity measures the country imposed to win international loans but also to raise public-sector salaries. MORE

Feb. 7, 2012

Prime Minister Emil Boc of Romania says he is stepping down to help country have stability; he is the latest European leader to fall victim to a mood of public outrage over austerity measures and stagnant growth. MORE

Jan. 31, 2012

Romania’s highest court sentences former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase to two years in prison for illegally raising funds for a failed presidential campaign. MORE

Jan. 26, 2012

Romanian Pres Traian Basescu acknowledges that some citizens have lost faith in his leadership, but continues to insist that austerity measures he has introduced have pulled the country out of a recession; remarks follow nearly two weeks of antigovernment protests. MORE

Jan. 20, 2012

Thousands of protesters gather in Bucharest, Romania, to demand the ouster of the central government and new elections, as a week of demonstrations against far-reaching austerity measures and years of difficult reforms appear to gain strength; are calling for resignations of Pres Traian Basescu and Prime Min Emil Boc. MORE

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